Technologies

Products

New Lab-on-a-Chip Device Said to Expand Patients’ Access to Health Care

09/15/2014

Researchers have designed a ‘labs-on-a-chip’ biochip designed to hold dozens of test results. This new biochip is cheap to construct and extremely manageable, since it is very small and can be put in your pocket. Instead of waiting for test results from labs, this biochip can yield results immediately since doctors are able to run tests directly on the device.

“Generally, a lab-on-a-chip (LOC) can run no more than a test or two. That’s because the chips are designed manually,” Shiyan Hu, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at Michigan Technological University, said. “If the LOC were made using computer-aided design, you could run dozens of tests with a single drop of blood.”

“It has taken us four years to do the software, but to manufacture the LOC would be inexpensive,” Hu said. “The materials are very cheap, and the results are more accurate than a conventional lab’s.”

This biochip can be used miles away from hospitals or clinics and can run tests on anything –which is another added bonus. It is cost-efficient and portable; therefore, will serve to better the health care industry in the near future.